Dare to be One was the title of an Ecumenical Meeting of Bishops that was held in Augsburg, Germany in the spring of this year. The subtitle was 'A Call From Jesus to Live the Future Now'.

The meeting was organised by the Focolare, a lay Christian organisation inspired by Jesus' prayer to the Father 'May they all be one' (John 17:21). Focolare was originally a lay Catholic movement but members now come from many different Churches.

The idea of bringing together Bishops from different Churches began in 1982 and 2024 was the 40th such meeting with 59 Bishops from 26 different countries and 30 Churches. These ranged from Orthodox Churches from places such as Tigray, Greece, Lutheran Churches from Germany and Scandinavia, Anglican Churches from places as diverse as Pakistan, Ireland and Madagascar, Methodist Churches and Catholic Churches from many countries. I was the only Moravian bishop and there were only two women, the other was a German Lutheran bishop. It was a truly international and ecumenical gathering, and I was so honoured to have been invited to take part in it.

The venue of Augsburg was chosen because of its importance in reformation history as the place where the Lutheran Confession of Faith, the Augsburg Confession, was presented in 1530. In addition, it was the place where the historic joint declaration on Justification by Faith was signed between the Catholic and Lutheran Churches was signed 25 years ago.

The meeting was held at the Catholic hotel/conference centre, Haus Sankt Ulrich and as there were so many different nationalities at the meeting a major work of translation was required. We were all equipped with headphones and sessions were translated into English, Italian and German.

Sessions began with warm welcomes to Augsburg by the Bishop Bertram, the Catholic Bishop of Augsburg and by Bishop Brendan Leahy, the Catholic Bishop of Limerick. We were told that the aim of the Bishop meetings is not to overcome differences, solve theological problems or to all become the same, but rather to model how to live in love and to bear each other's pain. Then the introductions began ... so many people to get to know and so many perspectives to take on board.

The informal moments and discussion groups were a wonderful opportunity to hear about each other's life and work and the issues that each one faced. These issues varied from what to do when Churches differed on issues around sexuality or living as a minority Church, very movingly the struggles of Christians in Pakistan and tragically the situation facing the orthodox Christians in Tigray. It was humbling to hear these stories and of the efforts made and the pain faced that the bishops bore on behalf of their people. I will take these stories with me for years and pray for the people I heard from.

Each day we heard from different speakers, some were deeply spiritual and others deeply theological although that of course is a false divide as spirituality and theology are intimately connected in a life of faith. We heard again that the Church is Christ himself who has taken form among us and that the Church should be a sacrament of the kingdom, a sign and a symbol. A powerful image was that of Christ crucified and forsaken in the various sides of our theological differences. We were called to be the first to love and to see Jesus in others and reminded that Jesus said, 'love one another as I have loved you'.

Some speakers spoke of the situations in their own countries: Archbishop John McDowell, the Primate of Ireland spoke of his dialogue with political parties, and Bishop Charles May spoke about the Church in South Africa after Apartheid and how they are still looking for a reconciled and peaceful society. Rev Callan Slipper, who is a member of Focolare spoke about Receptive Ecumenism and how ecumenism has immense dignity as it seeks to repair broken relationships. He gave us one really concrete example of this in the Catholic Churches review of synodality where they are looking at the experiences of other Churches and seeking to find from that a model for the Church.

We heard from a number of folk from Focolare including Margaret Karram, the President of the movement. Other speakers included a Methodist Bishop from Brazil and a very moving film from the Catholic Bishop of Jerusalem who spoke on the problem of religious extremism in the Holy Land, Judaism, Islam and Christian Zionism. He said that although only 1% of the population were Christians they had about 30% of the influence because of their ministries of prayer, education, healing and social work. A number of speakers spoke on the theme of 'Christ forsaken' and this resonated deeply with me. Some want an all-powerful God and a theology of glory rather than a theology of the cross and abandonment. One speaker said that in times of anxiety people look for strong leaders and this is extended to God; they want a strong God who is a hero and who does what we want him to do but God hides himself in the suffering!

Thankfully it was not all lectures and debate. We were taken to Augsburg Town Hall to see the famous Golden Hall and to a reception with the city's mayor. We also went to visit the Fuggerei which is the world's oldest surviving public housing complex. This was founded in 1516 by Jakob Fugger and was built for the poor of the city where they could recover and start working again. It has grown over the years, but its purpose is still the same and the rent is the same as it was in 1516!!

The last day of the conference took us to a Focolare community where supper was laid on and we shared in an evening of simple but effective entertainment. The evening ended with a special service in the community chapel where the bishops signed a pact of mutual love and respect for each other.

The worship of the meeting was superb - in the mornings informal worship in the conference hall before the talks began and in the evening worship in the hotel chapel, Holy Communion from the Church of Ireland, Catholic Mass, and Orthodox worship. We also shared in worship in St Ulrich's Cathedral with the most wonderful organ and a lunch time service in the shared Lutheran and Catholic Church of St Anna where the Declaration on Justification by Faith was signed 25 years ago.

The organisation was wonderful and all of us who attended the conference owe a huge amount to those who collected us and delivered us back to the airport, who translated for us and generally looked after us. This includes the organising committee and the willing Focolare volunteers.

It was a great experience but also challenging on many levels. The call to be the first to love is not easy and the work of building bridges particularly with those who do not accept the validity of your ministry is hard, but we have received grace and we are called to show it! I learnt much and I hope I remember something of it in the years to come.

Sr Sarah Groves
Minister of Gracehill Moravian Church